Tiny Arrietty (right, voice by Bridgit Mendler), riding on the shoulder of her new friend Shawn (left, voice by David Henrie), discovers an amazing world beyond her imagination in Studio Ghibli's feature animated adventure, "The Secret World of Arrietty," distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Photo Credit: Walt Disney Co.

REVIEW

PLOT: A lonely young boy discovers a miniature family living within his house. RATING G

BOTTOM LINE: A slightly odd mix of whimsy and melancholy, but a good introduction to the beautiful work of Japan's acclaimed Studio Ghibli.

CAST: Voices of Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Carol Burnett

Tokyo's Studio Ghibli has spent decades proving that there's more to Japanese animation than those old "Speed Racer" episodes, but Americans have proved resistant. Ghibli's films are always beautifully crafted, but also rather, well, Japanese. Even its biggest success here, 2001's Oscar-winning "Spirited Away," focused on a young girl working in an enchanted bathhouse; one of her magic possessions is a dumpling that causes vomiting.

The studio's latest, "The Secret World of Arrietty" (released through Disney), may translate a little better. It's based on the British children's book series "The Borrowers," about a miniature 14-year-old, Arrietty (the voice of Bridgit Mendler), who lives with her family under the floorboards of a regular-size human house. They survive by "borrowing" small items that nobody will miss -- sugar cubes are particularly prized -- and by staying well hidden. But on her first borrowing expedition, Arietty is spotted by a 12-year-old human, Shawn (David Henrie).

Fans of "Stuart Little" will appreciate the micro-details of "Arrietty," in which postage-stamp art hangs on tiny walls and a stickpin can become a mighty sword. The most entertaining sequence comes early, when Arietty and her taciturn father, Pod (Will Arnett), go rappelling off kitchen counters like mini-commandos. (Arietty's mother, voiced by Amy Poehler, mostly does housework.) The film's terrific villain, Hara, is a meddlesome housemaid whose shrill cackle comes from the great Carol Burnett.

Often, "Arrietty" creates a mood instead of having fun. Shawn is a sickly and lonely boy, and his feelings for this tiny girl border on an impossible yearning. Hiromasa Yonebayashi, a Ghibli animator making his directing debut, excels at painting wistful afternoons -- fading light, gentle breezes -- but his action scenes are mostly low-key. It's an enjoyable and attractive-looking film, but a little of that "Speed Racer" energy wouldn't have been such a bad thing.